Dahod BJP MP Jasvantsinh Bhabhor Wednesday called on Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel seeking his intervention in rehabilitating the trader community who have been displaced after a massive demolition drive in Dahod town as part of the Smart City Project. Requesting the state government to consider converting "green zone plots" with the Dahod Municipality into "commercial" zones in order to "sensitively rehabilitate the traders", Bhabhor urged the government to consider the financial crisis the traders are staring at. More than 450 shop owners were evicted for widening roads in Dahod town for the Smart City Project. Stating that the Dahod Municipality has expressed its "willingness" to "approve a proposal" to rehabilitate the evicted traders, Bhabhor has requested the government to consider converting the "green plots" under Town Planning Scheme 1 (TP1) to commercial zones in order to facilitate the rehabilitation. "It is our earnest request that you convert these green zone plots under Dahod TP Scheme 1 to commercial zones in order to allow the municipality to create an alternative rehabilitation plan for the traders, which is the need of the hour," stated Bhabhor in a letter to Patel. The MP stated that the shops razed in the demolition belonged to traders who settled in the town after the Partition. "Following the partition of India and Pakistan, since 1953, traders had been conducting business in kaccha (temporary) cabins as tenants of the Dahod Municipality. In 1995-96, after a road-widening project, permanent structures were constructed on both sides of the road as per the rules of the Municipality and with due permissions," the letter read. The road was upgraded again during a development project. "Currently, in the road widening project as part of the Dahod Smart City Development, approximately 450 shops were razed, thus evicting shopkeepers who had been running the business since the last 60-70 years. It has brought about the grim question of their livelihood," it added. Citing the rising cost of living, the MP urged the government to consider the financial crisis that could hit the families of the small traders. The MP was accompanied by Dahod MLA Kanhaiyalal Kishori to meet the CM. The Dahod Smart City committee began demolitions at several private structures located on major roads, namely Godhra Road, Godi Road, Palika Road, Station Road and the Padav area, on May 11 — five days after serving the eviction notices. In addition to the shops, nearly 10 places of religious worship, including the 1926-built Nagina Masjid and a prominent Ganesh temple, were demolished during the drive.
